Steve Jones is the editor of SQLServerCentral.com and visits a wide variety of data related topics in his daily editorial. Steve has spent years working as a DBA and general purpose Windows administrator, primarily working with SQL Server since it was ported from Sybase in 1990. You can follow Steve on Twitter at twitter.com/way0utwest

A long, long time ago, in a state far away, I started writing about technology. At the time, in the late 90s, I was looking to share some of my knowledge, and hopefully advance my career along.

It was intimidating to think that I could produce articles anywhere near the quality of the books I was reading to learn more about SQL, and I needed some advice. I looked at the covers of a few of the titles on my bookshelf, back when I used to collect physical books, and reached out to one of the very well known authors.

I asked a few questions about being a writer, asked for tips, and asked about how feasible it was to make a living at writing. Needless to say I was surprised when the author of about 10 books at the time responded with some candid advice and information about the publishing side of technology. I got some advice, some realistic warnings about what to expect, and most importantly, some encouragement.

The author was Mark Minasi, a fellow Virginia Beach resident. Well, fellow at the time. He’s still there, but I’ve moved to Denver

Over the years I have seen Mark a couple of times at conferences and shaken his hand. Paul Randal is a mutual friend and has introduced us, though it’s always been a “nice to meet you, big fan” from me since one of us is usually walking away to some other commitment.

However last night I had the chance to sit and talk with Mark over a few drinks. It was the first time I could properly thank him for his advice and encouragement over a decade ago. We shared a few drinks, some laughs, and I got to hang with someone I admired. I got a few complements back about what I had achieved and it was one of the highlights of my trip.